Polluted Waters
by Chenda
Summary: Furuhashi was not always the small forward for the Kirisaki Dai Ichi basketball team. In fact, he lived a rather different life before he came to know Hanamiya and the others.


**I haven't done a fanfic in a while due to school and real life stuff but I thought it would be fun to something small for now. For those of you waiting for the sequel to "Sadistic? Of Course Not!" it will be coming. I think we all know I don't own anything from the Kuroko no Basket franchise, so without further ado, please start reading!**

It was late January of his freshman year of high school when Furuhashi first spoke with Makoto Hanamiya. Furuhashi and Hanamiya were classmates at the time but nothing more than that. From what Furuhashi had observed and heard from others, he knew that Hanamiya was from a well-to-do family, good at basketball, and the valedictorian of their year. However, there were some shady rumors about him.

At the time, Furuhashi was a member of the karate club at Kirisaki Dai Ichi and arguably one of the best members there despite being a freshman. He had found himself drifting away from karate since entering high school due to the team's mediocrity. Furuhashi had been practicing karate since he was a small child at the urging of his family.

"The karate club doesn't seem to be doing too well this year," Hanamiya remarked casually, but years of growing up amongst the social elite had taught Furuhashi when to spot faked politeness.

"No one of authority has spoken to the coach or team," Furuhashi replied seemingly unfazed.

"Nonetheless, I believe you could be utilizing your abilities more effectively elsewhere," Hanamiya said, and Furuhashi already had an idea of where this conversation was headed.

"Perhaps you would be interested in playing on the basketball team?"

"I do not know how to play basketball," Furuhashi stated as he pondered why Hanamiya would ask him of all people to join the basketball club. The team was ranked in the top eight of Tokyo and did not have any problems with recruiting enough members. What could Hanamiya possibly want with him?

"You can always learn", Hanamiya replied. "Wouldn't you rather be in one of the best teams of Tokyo than some mediocre team that can't even make it past city preliminaries?" Furuhashi narrowed his eyes at Hanamiya, regardless of the karate club's shortcomings, Furuhashi was still part of the club, and an insult to the club was indirectly linked to him.

"Please think about my offer; you may tell me your answer whenever you feel ready. I have to get to practice now," Hanamiya said as he turned to walk away from Furuhashi. After Hanamiya had rounded the corner, Furuhashi walked towards the karate clubroom.

During practice Furuhashi kept thinking about Hanamiya's offer. His standing within the family had recently dropped due to his younger brother's successes in middle school surpassing his own. Was it possible to regain his former standing within his family if he proved himself in athletics? On the other hand, the training would be much harder because of the club's prestige, and he barely knew anything about basketball.

Once practice ended and the freshman had cleaned up the gym, Furuhashi waited by the school gates for his chauffeur to come pick him up. He saw one of his acquaintances from grade school walking by and decided to stop him.

"Excuse me, Takashi, what can you tell me about the basketball club and Makoto Hanamiya?" Takashi stopped and thought about Furuhashi's question for a couple of seconds.

"Honestly, not much. All I know is that they're really good, but during the Winter Cup preliminaries there was an accident and this guy had to be hospitalized. People say it was Hanamiya's plan," Takashi said ominously.

"Sorry for the trouble," Furuhashi said as his ride arrived at the school gates. Takashi gave a small chuckle.

"It's fine. I like to remember what you sound like from time to time." Furuhashi was even more troubled as he got into the car. He analyzed all of his options on the car ride home.

How could he fit in his studies and cello practice with basketball? Since the karate club was only mediocre at best, the practice was neither long nor difficult. At the moment, he was more invested in his music abilities than his karate abilities. Would he still be able to play in concerts with the school orchestra? What about the incident at the Winter Cup? There were too many unknown variables, so Furuhashi decided he would talk with Hanamiya first thing in the morning.

Once he got home, he ate his dinner and decided to take a bath. While in the bath he thought about Hanamiya and the basketball club even more. He stayed in the bathtub until a knock at the door told Furuhashi he had been in too long. He lazily got out of the bathtub and dried himself. After drying himself, he got dressed and left the bathroom. His maid gave him a disapproving look as he sat down to do his homework. He finished his homework relatively quickly and practiced his cello before going to bed.

Furuhashi awoke to the sound of his alarm clock, rolled over to check the time, and got out of bed. He ate a small breakfast and went to the front of his house where his chauffeur would be waiting for him. The drive was relatively quick and he was at school before he knew it. Furuhashi hoped he would find Hanamiya in the classroom but Hanamiya was not there.

It was not until five minutes before the first bell that Furuhashi saw Hanamiya enter the classroom. Furuhashi decided he would talk to him during lunch. The next three hours seemed to drag on before he heard the lunch bell ring.

Furuhashi approached Hanamiya, and Hanamiya suggested they head to the roof before further discussion. "I have a lot of questions to ask you before I can give you an answer," Furuhashi told him once they were on the roof. Hanamiya signaled for him to continue.

"I play the cello and am quite serious about my musical commitments. Will the basketball club give me leeway for concerts and mandatory orchestra practices?" Furuhashi asked. Hanamiya nodded his head.

"As long as you tell the coach in advance it can be worked around." Furuhashi was satisfied with that answer.

He also asked about the Winter Cup incident: "I've heard some shady rumors that you had some guy hospitalized. Is it true?"

Hanamiya scoffed and said, "I hope you don't plan on acting like a goody two-shoes and tell me that's wrong." Furuhashi shook his head.

"The ends justify the means. As long as you don't get caught I have no problem with it," he replied.

Hanamiya let out a laugh and commented, "You're more morally ambiguous than I thought." Furuhashi did not elaborate on his upbringing and the cutthroat environment of most elite social environments because Hanamiya probably already knew that. "Yes, it is not far from the truth that the incident was orchestrated by me".

Furuhashi had one more question to ask. "One last thing, why do you want me of all people?"

Hanamiya smirked and said, "When studying martial arts one usually learns how to inflict damage upon others without injuring themselves. I took notice of the best martial artists on campus and selected you as the most probable candidate."

As it sank in, Furuhashi seemed to have made his decision. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said to Hanamiya and left the roof. As he walked down the stairs he decided to stop by the office to pick up a resignation letter and a club application form. It was a very sunny morning in the middle of March when Furuhashi officially joined the Kirisaki Dai Ichi basketball club.

**Sorry if any of the characters were OOC. Hanamiya was very difficult for me to write and half way through I felt that Furuhashi was getting OOC. Well, I hope it was an enjoyable read.**


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